Opening

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—— Alyce Kills May 24

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Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
90% The East May 31
Rabbit-Proof Fence

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 138
Fresh: 121 | Rotten: 17

Visually beautiful and well-acted, Rabbit-Proof Fence tells a compelling true-life story.

87

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 4

Visually beautiful and well-acted, Rabbit-Proof Fence tells a compelling true-life story.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 22,784

My Rating

Movie Info

After directing a number of major motion pictures in the United States, Australian-born filmmaker Phillip Noyce returned home to make this remarkable adventure-drama, based on a true story as well as a lamentable period in his nation's history. When European settlers first arrived in Australia, there was an almost immediate conflict between the recent arrivals and the nation's indigenous people, whose rich cultural heritage which bore little resemblance to that of the Europeans. By the mid-19th

PG,

Drama

Christine Olsen

Apr 15, 2003

$6.0M

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All Critics (154) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (125) | Rotten (17) | DVD (19)

[Director Phillip] Noyce shows their awful, eventually uplifting journey without flinching, and the arid Australian wilderness is a co-star of the film.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Denver Post
Denver Post
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Noyce trusts the power of the story to move us. He knows that, like the girls themselves, we'll find our way along Rabbit-Proof Fence.

January 23, 2003
Orlando Sentinel
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It certainly has its moving moments.

January 6, 2003
Washington Post
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The final shot in the film is one that you won't soon forget.

January 3, 2003 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
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Searing dramatization of a story of remarkable courage, stamina and spirit.

December 27, 2002
Washington Post
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Many movies claim to illuminate the human spirit, but Rabbit-Proof Fence actually delivers.

December 27, 2002
Arizona Republic
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After making several commercial but impersonal actioners, Philip Noyce goes back to his Australian roots with this message film, which is powerful if also simplistic.

October 5, 2012 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Rabbit-Proof Fence aspires to epic status, but it's really more of a well-done genre film...

September 13, 2012 Full Review Source: PopMatters
PopMatters

strongest aspect rests with the educational value of its subject

January 8, 2012 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews

Powerful drama about racism ok for tweens and up.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Such an amazing true story leaves many opportunities for overblown melodrama, but Noyce's naturalistic restraint is what makes the film resonate so strongly.

September 17, 2007 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

Child performances are allways a deal breaker, but Noyce coaxes great range and rage from his child stars. As they trek across the vast land, the camera never gets in the way of focussing its energies on the protagnonists.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Scouts
Film Scouts

This true story of some gutsy aboriginee girls who made a daring escape to home across thousands of miles of Australian outback, lyrically inspires and invigorates the human spirit.

June 16, 2007 Full Review
WBAI Web Radio

Packs such an emotional wallop that it leaves you reeling...It may be one of the greatest movies ever made about the "white man's burden."

May 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly

The grievous truth of what was done to these people, rather than for them, hits viewers hard in the film's unforgettable conclusion....

January 15, 2005
Looking Closer

Adotando uma estrutura narrativa extremamente simples, Noyce conta a história de forma envolvente e emocionante.

March 18, 2004
Cinema em Cena

There is value in bringing this dark passage in Australia's history to light.

December 3, 2003 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals
Cinema Signals

Audience Reviews for Rabbit-Proof Fence

Kenneth Branagh is a compelling villain, and some of the cinematography is great but there simply isn't enough plot to carry this true-story drama to the finish line with full attention in tow.
January 15, 2013
Sam Barnett

Super Reviewer

Rabbit-Proof Fence is visually stunning, well-acted film telling of the racism by the British against the Aboriginal peoples of Australia in the 1930's. It's an emotional, heart-breaking jouney enhanced by a haunting and beautiful score by Peter Gabriel.
March 25, 2011
Raymond Wieser

Super Reviewer

    1. A.O. Neville: Just because people have Neolithic tools, Inspector, doesn't mean they have Neolithic minds.
    – Submitted by Frances H (3 months ago)
    1. Molly Craig: They make me sick, these people, they make me sick.
    – Submitted by Frances H (3 months ago)
    1. A.O. Neville: Half-caste children have been gathered up and brought here to give them the benefit of everything our culture has to offer. For if we are to fit and train such children for the future, they cannot be left as they are, and in spite of himself, the native must be helped.
    – Submitted by Frances H (3 months ago)
    1. A.O. Neville: If only they would understand what we are trying to do for them.
    – Submitted by Geoff T (16 months ago)

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
Neville's favorite song 3 months ago 0

Latest News on Rabbit-Proof Fence

April 29, 2008:
Philip Noyce Learning The Art of Making Money
Philip Noyce is in talks to direct DreamWorks' The Art of Making Money, a film about notorious...

Foreign Titles

  • Long Walk Home (Rabbit Proof Fence) (DE)
  • Le Chemin de la liberté (FR)
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